


What Are You Waiting For? (Take a Bite of My Heart Tonight)

by Ceranovis (KiiKitsune), Misoup



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alpha Fight, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Angst with a Happy Ending, Best Friends, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Infidelity, Knotting, M/M, Mark and the Dreamies, Mating, Mating Bond, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Mating Rituals, Non-Traditional Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Omega Leaders, Pack Dynamics, Rutting, Smut, We been knew Jungwoo is a hoe but he has good reason okay, a lot of cum, mentioned side pairings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-13
Updated: 2018-05-13
Packaged: 2019-05-05 23:23:16
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 19,163
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14629188
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KiiKitsune/pseuds/Ceranovis, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Misoup/pseuds/Misoup
Summary: Jungwoo and Lucas had always been like brothers growing up, promising they’d take care of each other no matter what. Even after they presented as an omega and an alpha, they looked out for each other as only brothers would.That love and protection would be tested when all the alphas, including Jungwoo's boyfriend Doyoung, and the older betas leave the pack to go on a hunting trip - except Lucas.





	What Are You Waiting For? (Take a Bite of My Heart Tonight)

**Author's Note:**

> PLEASE NOTE: The a/b/o elements in this fic might be slightly different from others you've read out there. I hope I've made it clear enough what they are and how it works, but let me know in the comments if you have questions. <3
> 
> Much thanks and love to my Discord family for inspiring and collaborating on this project that's been near and dear to my heart since I've fallen into the Lucas and Jungwoo black holes.  
> Thank you Isaias for your ideas and your enthusiam, and thank you to Cera for your witty lines - you are both geniuses. I had a fantastic time brainstorming this with both of you!

“Lucas!”

Mark threw the ball up high over Haechan’s stretched arms, where it met Lucas’ grip in midair and was redirected into the hoop. Their team cheered as Lucas landed, smirk on his face.

It was hot, and they were all sweating from the heated asphalt and the sun splashing down over their bodies on what had turned out a moderate summer day.

Basketball was a typical afternoon activity here near the omega house, where the younger members of their pack played together before Taeyong called them in for dinner. It had been something of a tradition for them to have a big meal together here at least once a week.

Lucas looked over at Jungwoo in the shade of the maple tree where the omega was only half paying attention to the activities on the court while he re-read a novel from his spring literature course. The tall alpha shot Jungwoo a grin and made a gesture as if to say, “Did you see that?”

Jungwoo rolled his eyes, but smiled back at him all the same, head dropping back down to the words on the page. Lucas had always been a little full of himself as they’d grown up together, and it had honestly grown worse in Jungwoo’s opinion since the skinny beanpole of a kid had presented as an alpha and grown into the tall, muscular, tanned man that Jungwoo was currently trying to ignore.

But he’s his pack brother, and they love each other like brothers do, so they tease each other. They always have. They’d been inseparable since Lucas had moved to the area when he was twelve to attend a better school, big brown doe eyes locked onto Jungwoo where they sat together in math class and asking the older boy what the answer to number three was.

Back then it was Taeil, a beta, looking out for the younger ones until Johnny presented as an alpha and carved out a place of authority in their pack.

Jungwoo looked up as Ten was calling the boys in for break, a cooler of water bottles set nearby in the shade. Yet, Jungwoo thought for probably the thousandth time, Johnny wasn’t _actually_ the one in charge.

Once Ten and Taeyong had “mated” a few years ago, it became clear that these two together were a force to be reckoned with, even for an alpha. It also caused some hardships for the pack, because not many others in their city were willing to openly accept and support same-rank pairings, and certainly not two omegas leading a pack together. But Johnny was smart enough to recognize he couldn’t do anything to fight it, and these were his brothers, so he agreed to be the stand-in Alpha Leader that everyone expected him to be out in the world.

For the most part, it worked. Especially in instances like now, when the alphas and older betas had gone on a hunting trip together, there wasn’t much interruption to their normal way of life.

Lucas plopped down in the grass next to Jungwoo, still panting and dripping sweat as he chugged most of the bottle of water in his large hand. Jungwoo wrinkled his nose. He could tell Lucas was near-rut just by his smell, and- “ _God_ you stink.”

There was a flash of uncharacteristic irritation across Lucas’ features before he broke out into a normal shit-eating grin and jerked his water bottle toward Jungwoo. Water droplets spattered over Jungwoo and his book while Lucas chuckled playfully at the omega’s gasp.

He could play this game too, throwing down his book and shoving Lucas over into the grass. They were both giggling and no one paid them much mind, though Jungwoo noticed Ten’s nostrils flaring as they sat up, eyes flicking over to Lucas even as he talked with Jaemin and Jeno.

Mark came to sit beside Lucas, unaffected by the pheremones since he had turned out a beta. “Jungwoo, you heard anything from Doyoung yet?”

His stomach did a little flip at the name. Jungwoo missed his boyfriend. “No, not a word since they left two days ago.”

“Bummer. Johnny-hyung is hardly answering my texts either. They must be in a bad spot for reception.”

“Hm, yeah,” Jungwoo thought with the tiniest pout.

He missed Doyoung’s scent, and his smell in the sweater he’d let Jungwoo borrow to sleep with had faded too quickly.

“Too bad you couldn’t go with them, Lucas.” Mark said, nudging the alpha’s bare arm with his cold water bottle.

Lucas flinched from the icy contact, and Jungwoo couldn’t be sure if he heard a bit of a growl for a split second before he was smiling again like always. “Yeah, really bad timing for a rut, man. Ugh.” Lucas pulled his knees up a bit to lean forward and rest his elbows on them, his own empty water bottle dangling between his knees.

Jungwoo reached over to ruffle Lucas’ hair. “Ah, you’ll be alright, bro.”

Lucas tensed just a little, but otherwise didn’t acknowledge the contact, picking at the ring around the mouth of the bottle. “Yeah, I guess. I’ve never been hunting before so it just…”

“Sucks to get left behind?” Jungwoo supplied when Lucas didn’t finish his thought.

Big brown eyes swivelled toward him, expression reminding him of that day they’d first met. They were pleading and shy, but colored now with a tinge of something Jungwoo couldn’t quite place. It made him uneasy, though, and he turned to collect his book and uselessly wipe away the drops of water already warping the pages. He meant to say something soothing or give advice as the hyung, but his thoughts were interrupted.

“Dinner!” Taeyong called from the doorway of the house, and Jisung and Chenle were zipping past, pushing one another in their race to get food first.

The others weren’t far behind, basketball abandoned and bouncing to a stop where the grass met the asphalt.

Ten was shaking his head at the teens’ antics as he passed by Jungwoo and the others clumped together under the tree. He waved them up with a patient smile. “C’mon, food time. Better get in there and get some before the little mongrels eat it all.”

   

 

The dining room was stuffy with the heat of cooked food and so many bodies, most of them still sweaty from the sun and play.

Yet the empty chairs where the hyungs would normally sit made their gathering feel small and lonely. Jisung, of course, took the opportunity to make a joke out of it, sitting in Johnny’s seat and acting like head alpha, which had most of the younger boys laughing and playing along.

Normally Lucas would join in, but he found his eyes drawn to Doyoung’s empty seat next to Jungwoo for reasons he couldn’t fully grasp. He stayed quiet tonight, feeling so unlike himself even as he ate more food than he thought possible. Jungwoo kept giving him worried glances inbetween conversation with Sicheng, but he refused to look up at his friend. He was just feeling left out, he supposed, and the hormones weren’t helping his emotional state.

Stupid fucking hormones got him left out in the first place.

That thought dragged him down into a deeper, darker pit of emotion that he’d felt for a couple years now. The place he didn’t want to acknowledge anymore, the thoughts that would always creep back up around almost every rut cycle. Lucas stood up quickly from the table and went to sit in the living room on the corner of the couch next to the window with his thoughts.

Sometimes, in the past, he’d seek out a willing omega to help him through the heat and the pain - a common enough practice among the younger generation. There was no knotting and thus no mating. Just simple, casual sex. But after it was over, it always left him feeling more hollow and pained than before. Fake. Man or woman, he was always pretending they were one person.

Trying to deal with it on his own wasn’t much better. He could barely get his thoughts away from imagining his fist was someone in particular, someone in his mind who was crying out his name in lovely broken moans. Sometimes the knot would swell in his own hand when he was swept up in the fantasy, conjuring Jungwoo’s voice whispering in his ear for him to do it. To be mated.

But Jungwoo didn’t feel the same. He never had. He was Lucas’ closest pack brother, the one he’d give up anything for.

And give up, he had. Jungwoo’s feelings for him had become clear when the omega began to take in interest in Doyoung instead, and the both of them agreed to court one another.

That had been so long ago now, almost a year, and Lucas presently berated himself for not being able to let go of those feelings. Though he had indeed stopped toying with the idea of pursuing Jungwoo. He just wished these thoughts would go away.

When others outside the pack would ask Lucas the nature of his relationship with Jungwoo, it was with a practiced smile that he’d reply, “We’re like brothers.” And he always wanted to believe those empty words himself.

_But brothers don’t have feelings like this for one another._

“Lucas, why are you growling?”

Mark was standing just inside the wide doorway between dining room and living room, looking very concerned, with six other young faces peeking out behind him.

“Oh,” Lucas laughed nervously. “Sorry, it’s just hormones.”

 

Taeyong made the boys help clean up when dinner was done, and the seven youngest made quick work of piling dirty dishes and scooping leftovers into tupperware for later. Jungwoo felt a bit restless, so he went into the kitchen to fill the sink with hot water for washing dishes. Sicheng piled them up beside him on the counter while Ten and Taeyong put away the food and wiped down the giant table.

It was already hot in the kitchen from a stove radiating heat while it cooled, in the middle of summer, with 12 bodies packed into one house, and the hot dishwater wasn’t helping.

After a few minutes, Jungwoo was wiping sweat off his brow with the back of his hand, but kept on scrubbing since he was on the last 3 plates.

A low growl from the other room made him freeze, a chill running up his spine. Then there was Mark’s voice, sounding worried. Jungwoo about-faced, drying his hands on the towel on his shoulder while he walked out into the living room.

Lucas was answering, deep voice stopping Jungwoo dead in his tracks. He barely registered what was said.

Jungwoo watched sweat drops track down Lucas’ bare shoulder, mesmerized by how they glistened in the light from the window. His gaze travelled over to the ridge of pectoral muscle peeking out from the arm hole of Lucas’ tank top, then across his chest, down to his thighs-

He dazedly pulled his gaze up to Lucas’ full lips and brown hair floating down into the eyelashes of those big brown eyes, and _since when did Lucas get so_ hot?

“Do you need to go home?” Someone was asking just before Lucas swung his head in Jungwoo’s direction, eyes big and glassy, nostrils flaring on a deep inhale.

Lucas didn’t answer, gaze fixed.

Jungwoo swallowed, suddenly incredibly aware of the slick tickling its way down toward his thigh. “Uh, I- Need the bathroom,” he muttered, consciously tearing his gaze from Lucas.

He took two strides before there were footsteps rushing at him and voices raised.

Jungwoo turned to find Lucas three feet from him and five or six pairs of hands holding him back. His eyes were wide, irises blood red, face determined as he strained against their grasp.

The omega swallowed hard, his own eyes wide with surprise. Taeyong and Sicheng appeared out of nowhere, hands on his own arms and shoulders, their touch light but steady. “Jungwoo, c’mon. Let’s go upstairs.” Taeyong gently commanded with steely undertones.

His body turned to obey, but Jungwoo’s gaze was still fixed on the sight of a currently compliant Lucas pushed back toward the couch by Mark and Ten, until the wall took the alpha out of Jungwoo’s sight.

 

Lucas writhed in his bed, willfully ignoring the pain pulsing through his body and the hard length straining against his boxers. Mark had taken him back to his apartment down the road, the six other young boys uncharacteristically silent in the back of Mark’s beat up cargo van.

He’d just had a shower to try to calm down as per Mark’s advice - not to mention he was still covered in sweat from their game.

He’d had some time to think about what happened, and those same thoughts and images played once more in his mind’s eye. He wiped a large hand roughly across his face and stared at the ceiling fan whirring overhead.

It had _never_ been this bad before. He’d not once lost control like that around Jungwoo, even when he was close to rut. Lucas considered that he might have waited too long to go home. But Jungwoo- his smell. He couldn’t remember Jungwoo ever smelling like that before. Was it because Doyoung was gone and his scent had worn off of Jungwoo?

It had been sweet and heady and utterly intoxicating. He closed his eyes as he thought about it, teeth mindlessly biting into the side of his hand. He groaned.

Jungwoo’s face appeared in his thoughts, looking shocked though the omega hadn’t so much as flinched as Lucas’ feet carried him closer. He groaned once more, this time in guilt. He should never have let himself get out of control like that. He knew better.

And he’d probably scared every single one of them in doing so.

Though his cock was begging to be touched, fire in his belly like a distant siren demanding his attention, he told his primal instincts to fuck off for now as he reached for his phone on the bedside table.

He hesitated momentarily, staring at Jungwoo’s name in his phone before biting at his lower lip and forcing his thumbs to tap out the message.

 

_I’m sorry_

_I never should have come at you like that_

_I don’t know what happened_

 

He reread the texts. Fuck, that sounded lame. But then Jungwoo was responding.

 

_It’s okay, it’s my fault too._

_I forgot I was also gonna go into heat soon, so…_

 

“Wait, what?”

 

_You’re in heat?_

 

Lucas didn’t try to keep track of Jungwoo’s cycles, and definitely didn’t want to think about Doyoung fucking him through it. He definitely didn’t think - often - about how needy and desperate Jungwoo must sound during a heat. Or how alone and in pain he was right now, with Doyoung gone. He knew ruts were bad, but heats were often worse.

He definitely didn’t imagine Jungwoo lying in bed covered in sweat and slick and whining for a knot, no. Definitely didn’t think about that. Not his brother.

Lucas’ palm brushed lightly along his length as he waited for the tiny bubble at the bottom of the screen to stop moving.

 

_Yeah, I guess I was too distracted with Doyoung being gone, so I’d just forgotten all about it._

_Sorta snuck up on me too. So really, it’s not all your fault, it’s just bad timing, I guess._

 

He swallowed hard, thoughts going everywhere. Jungwoo, alone, in heat, while he was in rut. But there was one thing he really wanted to know right now.

 

_How bad is it?_

_Pretty bad. lol_

_You?_

 

“Fuck.” He could feel his cock leaking, ache pulsing out into his limbs.

 

_Mine’s bad too_

_Look, I still feel bad about what happened_

_I’ve never reacted to you that strongly before._

 

There was a good thirty second pause while Lucas waited for him to type, so his hand wandered back down to his boxers. Maybe Jungwoo had gone to the bathroom or something, he thought with a sigh as he lowered the device, waiting.

His phone dinged.

 

_Wait_

_Reacted… to ME?_

 

 Lucas’ eyes widened, jaw muscles bunching as he grit his teeth. Shit, _shit._ He sat up, gripping his phone so tightly it creaked in his grasp.

 

_“That strongly”?_

_“Before”?_

 

 Jungwoo pressed on. Lucas reached for his pillow and squeezed it to death in one hand. He started to type something but erased it and stared at the screen for the words to come to him. Jungwoo spared him the agony of thought.

 

_Even with Doyoung’s scent on me?_

 

Lucas was on the verge of panic. He started to type something at lightning speed. _“Look, it’s not like that”_ he began, but was interrupted.

 

_I haven’t told him what happened, Lucas. And I don’t plan on it._

_Idgi_

_Why?_

_I mean…. You’re an alpha, I’m an omega, it was bound to happen, right?_

 

His stomach dropped in resignation. So that’s all it was? Not because Jungwoo had feelings for him, no.

So Lucas did what he did best when Jungwoo didn’t seem to reciprocate his feelings. He joked.

 

_Lol_

_Yeah, that’s true_

_I mean, you’ve probably reacted to me before too, right?_

_:)_

 

It took a few extra seconds for Jungwoo to respond. Lucas wiped damp off his forehead.

 

_Yeah  
_

_Sometimes_

 

Lucas’ brows rose, passingly aware of his dick throbbing underneath the pillow in his lap.

 

_Even when you’re with Doyoung?_

 

He regretted the message as soon as he hit “send.” He couldn't take that back. This was way out of line, even if he tried to blame it on hormones.

 

_This isn’t about Doyoung_

 

His heart was pounding. Lucas hadn’t a clue how that actually answered his question. And he also didn’t seem to be that mad Lucas had asked. Why was Jungwoo dodging?

 

_Then what is this about?_

_Us_

 

The alpha suddenly couldn’t remember how to breathe, air stuck somewhere in his throat as he stared at that one tiny word. How was this _not_ about Doyoung? He couldn't think of a good answer.

 _It’s just the hormones, idiot_ , he thought to himself, and let out the breath. _It doesn’t mean anything and you shouldn’t get your hopes up by reading into it._

He wasn't sure how long he’d sat there spacing out as he pondered, but his screen was black when he finally came to his senses. Lucas opened the phone back up, wondering if he missed a message while his mind had been preoccupied. But Jungwoo hadn’t elaborated for five minutes, which felt like practically an eternity.

 

_Look bro, just… try to get some sleep, okay?_

 

Jungwoo's reply came almost immediately.

 

_Ok_

 

   

   

 

He knew if he gave in now, there would be no turning back, and he'd be stuck in bed for two days desperately and repeatedly fucking himself on fingers and toys until his whole body ached. And it was so _hard_ not to give in.

But, there were more pressing matters on Jungwoo’s mind, like trying to keep two alphas from mauling each other in some ridiculous power battle should Doyoung find out. He’d begged Ten and Taeyong not to say anything precisely because of the mess it could cause, and no one wanted to pay hospital bills for an alpha scuffle. Jungwoo was fairly sure the others would keep quiet about it. No one wanted to incite alpha fights if it could be helped.

He hadn’t even mentioned the possibility of a fight to Lucas and worry him needlessly.

Jungwoo recalled, as he lay staring at his dark phone screen, an alpha fight back in high school over some omega girl some boys had both taken a liking to. One of them was nearly beaten to death. It added a layer of nausea onto the skein of pain and heat and unbearable want crawling over his skin. He writhed with it momentarily until he told his body it was useless, and settled into the tangled sheets.

He’d tried to sleep, he really had. He couldn’t stop thinking about his conversation hours ago with Lucas. He didn’t know how many times he had scrolled back through their conversation, examining every word as he bit the inside of his cheek in thought. Jungwoo had tried to reason it away, as he always tried to when it came to Lucas, that their circumstances were simply an unwanted byproduct of biology and the fact that they’d chosen to remain as close as brothers even when their secondary sex screamed at them to allow space.

He brought the phone over his face to read the messages one more time. Fire flashed through his bones and he whined softly. He looked at the time - 2:12 AM. Doyoung would surely be asleep, and hadn’t been answering his texts for the past 36 hours anyways. Mark was probably right, they were most likely out of reception range.

He needed a distraction from this, but nothing that came to mind felt right. He could ask Ten and Taeyong down the hall, but he knew where that led and it was not a satisfying answer to his predicament. Doyoung probably wouldn’t answer. Lucas-

Lucas.

 _“I’d do anything for you, I promise. You’re my brother.”_ Lucas’ voice echoed in his head from a vast array of memories.

Christmases, birthdays, even during exams when Jungwoo would cry from the stress and Lucas was there to hold him and tell him he’s too smart to fail. Jungwoo would tell him that’s just because the alpha was dumb and it made Jungwoo look smart in comparison, and Lucas would laugh and tell Jungwoo that he’d always stay dumb if it made the omega look smarter.

He really had always been there with him, even when Jungwoo had overextended himself with commitments and he’d roped Lucas into helping finish on time. Lucas did it with a smile and a joke and never complained.

Mindless fingers traced the lines of his phone as he thought about it, fresh slick spilling out of him and making him squirm. He remembered that sometimes Lucas hooked up with an omega willing to help him through his rut, but it wasn’t often. Jungwoo had always frowned on it, but then again, he hadn’t been alone during a heat in a long, long time. And he couldn’t remember the ache ever being this bad.

But just- just maybe… Would Lucas help him this time, when he had no one, nothing else, that would satisfy him like an alpha body? He clamped his thighs together as another wave of it wracked him, biting his lip to stifle his whines. Jungwoo could feel his skin sticking damply to every inch of cloth touching him and panted.

He picked up the phone.

 

_Are you awake?_

 

It was almost literally a shot in the dark, and Jungwoo counted the seconds (six) before Lucas was responding.

 

_Yeah._

_Can’t sleep either._

 

Oh, fuck. Good. He closed his eyes and forced himself to breathe through what felt like his body trying to explode before he could ask.

 

_It hurts so bad_

_How do you want me to help_

 

Jungwoo swallowed, forcing back the feelings that told himself this was the dumbest idea he ever had, willfully ignoring the danger signs as he told himself not to think about the future. How could he with a volcano ready to erupt and tear him apart? Lances of aching pain made his back arch off the bed, teeth clenched around a cry.

 

_We always promised we’d take care of each other, right?_

 

There was a pause after Lucas started to type, hesitating, and Jungwoo expected it.

 

_Ofc_

 

His breath hitched and his stomach flipped, but Jungwoo gave into the feeling buffeting him more strongly than the pain.

 

_Please help me_

 

Lucas’ responses were too fast, too planned. But Jungwoo sighed relief in a mini respite from the pain, too distracted to think much about it.

 

_Do you remember the woods in the park that we camped in last year?_

_Yeah_

_Can you meet me there?_

 

He was on his feet before he knew it, reaching for a pair of basketball shorts and a T-shirt. He was shaking, unsure if it was from the pain, mind racing for a way to get out of here without waking up his housemates as he threw the clothes on.

Jungwoo shoved his phone into his pocket and moved to the window, pushing up the pane and looking down two stories to the ground. He hesitated, calculating how he’d get down.

A fresh wave of agony sent him onto his knees, white knuckles gripping the windowsill. “Fuck. Fuck,” he whispered into the night air.

 _This isn’t gonna work._ And an omega in heat walking down the street in the middle of the night? His self-preservation whispered. Any alpha within a half-mile would be in a frenzy.

He pulled his phone back out.

 

_No_

_Ok_

_Be there soon._

 

A thrill floated through him, giving him strength to stand up and go quietly open his bedroom door.

 

 _Jungwoo needs my help_ was the only thought screaming through Lucas’ brain as he grabbed his backpack, dumping all his old notebooks and pens onto the carpet in his room. He turned round to rip the thick, padded comforter off his bed, balling it up under one arm.

He padded quietly into the kitchen to grab bottles of water and packaged food to stuff in his bag, moving more swiftly and silently than he thought himself capable. He knew he couldn’t go out the front door - too noisy. He’d been caught by Jaehyun once before when he’d snuck out during a rut to meet up with an omega girl.

Lucas’ gaze turned swiftly to the window at the far end of the long kitchen. His body acted on its own, dropping down into the grass outside within seconds.

His phone dinged, muffled in the loose fabric of his pants. Jungwoo.

Lucas bolted down the road.

 

It took him a full minute to make it down the stairs without tripping and killing himself, or waking anyone else up, but Jungwoo managed it. The knob on the front door was too slippery under his sweaty hands, taking him far too long to open it. But as soon as he managed to do so, cool night air hitting him in the face, he saw Lucas across the basketball court, his scent carried on the light breeze.

 _Why did I ever say he stinks?_ Jungwoo asked himself, falling to his knees again onto the front porch with a soft moan at the tantalizing smell of the alpha swiftly approaching. He couldn’t remember Lucas ever smelling this _good_ , not since-

But suddenly there were arms around him, engulfed in alpha pheromones that lit his body on fire as much as quelled the ache inside.

“Luc-”

A set of lips swallowed his words, hands reflexively reaching up to grip Lucas’ arms, eyes closing, leaning in to their taste with far too much hunger.

Jungwoo pulled back, panting for breath. “Lucas,” he gasped, and watched those gorgeous alpha eyes meet his with a fearful expression. “Let’s get out of here, before they wake up,” he blurted in a hissing whisper, and watched those same eyes change to determination.

He helped Jungwoo to his feet, but the omega whined, pain searing white hot through him mixed with a lustful fervor, and leaned heavily into the tall alpha’s arms to keep from collapsing.

‘Can you walk?”

The deep voice in his ear made him want to squirm in want, slick already leaking. He couldn’t find his voice to answer, shaking his head instead.

He watched with far too much interest how Lucas’ tongue darted out to swipe across his lips before a blanket was shoved into Jungwoo’s hands and he was hauled up into strong arms.

Then Lucas was running down the road, house behind them forgotten with the door left ajar.

Jungwoo curled himself into Lucas’ chest, clutching the blanket against him tightly. _Lucas, Lucas, Lucas_ \- it was all he could smell, could think, face shoved into the alpha’s neck where the scent overwhelmed him. He felt drunk on it, unbothered by the jostling movements of Lucas’ headlong flight. Jungwoo lost track of time, not sure how long Lucas had been carrying him, still jogging along down the road while the omega almost lost his mind in the overpowering throes of heat-induced desire. He could feel his shorts sticking to himself with slick, could feel the hard tip of Lucas’ cock maddenly brush against the curve of his ass.

He had no idea how Lucas could hold him this long except under the hypnotic persuasion of his rut, feeling the alpha’s arms start to shake around his body with the strain of it.

It was all he could do not to think about that cock in his wet hole, moaning his frustrations into Lucas’ neck. It was maddening, and his body was burning with heat.

It seemed forever and yet it was so soon that Jungwoo heard Lucas’ laugh of relief, and looked ahead to see the treeline close now in the moonlight. He watched sleepily as the woods grew closer, arm clutching painfully tight round Lucas’ neck.

Somehow, it must have been the hormones or the adrenaline or sheer willpower, but Lucas dashed headlong into the trees, weaving and dodging on pure instinct until they came to the small clearing under the big oak tree. The ground was flat and scattered with leaves and soft grass beside its wide trunk, against which Lucas set Jungwoo.

The omega watched dazedly as Lucas took the blanket, uncurling it over the vegetative carpet before taking off the backpack that Jungwoo hadn’t even noticed until now.

Jungwoo pressed his arms into the rough bark to hold himself up, legs feeling weak as the sensations battered him. “Lucas,” he gasped needily.

 

He wasn’t sure how they made it here, every sense laced with terrible want. Lucas had been fighting the urge during their journey to stop in the middle of the street and fuck him right then and there. He’d never felt so out of control, never felt this overwhelmed by the fire of rut. Lucas concentrated on the nose nestled in the side of his neck and the sweet smell of Jungwoo sending him into overdrive as he ran .

He was singularly focused on getting Jungwoo somewhere safe and secret, the pleasant night air a balm against fevered skin. As soon as his backpack of supplies hit the ground, Jungwoo was calling his name, pleading.

Leaves rustled softly with Lucas’ hasty steps, a growl warbling in his throat as he caged the omega against the tree. Hooded eyes glittered with shards of moonlight, lips hanging open in silent request before Jungwoo seemed to draw in on himself, head tilting to one side to offer up his neck.

“Please,” he breathed at the alpha, closing his eyes.

Lucas pressed his whole body into Jungwoo’s at that request, lips tracing over hot skin with a moan. He could feel Jungwoo’s hard length pressing in beside his own, could smell the spill of slick from the omega at the contact. He rolled his hips and felt like he could _die_ hearing Jungwoo’s breathy moans in his ear.

His tongue licked up along the smooth skin, finally tasting what he could only smell before. His teeth grazed the skin along his neck, holding back the instinct to bite and leave his mark. Lucas’ hands moved to take Jungwoo into his grasp, one hand cupping the omega’s cheek as he kissed where the scent was strongest right beneath his ear.

Lucas pulled his head back, turning Jungwoo’s to face him with the intent to attack his lips while he ripped their clothes off (a very distinct possibility, as he’d learned from previous ruts), but stopped when their gazes locked. Jungwoo’s eyes were searching his, causing Lucas to click into a strange line of thought in the midst of the flood of desire.

He’d always wanted this. And he wasn’t sure it would ever happen again between them. He wanted to savor it. Pull as much satisfaction from the encounter as he possibly could.

Lucas put his other hand to Jungwoo’s face, tilting his head up just slightly to kiss him, slow and gentle. Jungwoo was much rougher and desperate against his lips, bucking his own hips up against Lucas’ when he hadn’t realized he’d stopped.

The alpha let his hands wander to the gap of skin between Jungwoo’s shirt and shorts, fingernails sliding along the pale skin there. Jungwoo’s hands fisted Lucas’ shirt in an iron grip, tongue licking across the alpha’s lip. Lucas hooked his fingers under the waistband, languidly dragging Jungwoo’s bottoms over his hip bones a couple inches.

The fists released his shirt as Jungwoo impatiently pushed his own pants down and off completely.

“Oh, shit-” Lucas gasped against his lips when the smell of slick hit him full force.

The omega’s bottoms were completely soaked as Jungwoo pulled his bare feet out of them and kicked them to the side. It was sticky all over the inside of Jungwoo’s thighs and Lucas felt intoxicated from the scent blasting him in the face, fingernails digging into Jungwoo’s hips as he attacked the omega’s lips. Lucas licked into Jungwoo’s mouth, hands wandering round to grip each ass cheek in his wide palms and _spread_.

Jungwoo’s breath hissed in through his nose, tongues dancing, as Lucas’ fingertips brushed across his slick entrance. The omega keened when more slick oozed out to meet those digits in wordless plea. Lucas groaned, pulling Jungwoo’s hips forward away from the tree, sliding his own length against the omega’s with only silky fabric between them. Jungwoo was on his tiptoes now, shoulder blades pushed into the rough bark while Lucas coaxed his hips into a slow, pressured roll.

Lucas’ teeth were nipping along Jungwoo’s jawline, growling into his ear. “I wanna fuck you right here against this tree.”

Jungwoo nodded frantically, slick dripping down onto Lucas’ fingers, biting hard at his own lip.

He licked his lips, manhandling Jungwoo around until his chest was pressed into the tree. “Stay.”

It was hard not to stare at the curve of Jungwoo’s ass while he shucked his clothes, hard not to comment on how Jungwoo’s spine curved to present his absolutely wet backside to Lucas. Lucas’s dick twitched at the sight, a wealth of old fantasies coming to mind as he got down onto his knees.

There was no way in hell Lucas was going to miss the chance to taste _this_. He set his hands on Jungwoo’s hips, the omega calling his name quietly in question, head turning to look over his shoulder. Jungwoo flinched when his hot tongue licked up the inside of his thigh in a stripe, slowly, all the way up to the source. Lucas took a deep breath of that smell, committing its ambrosial scent to memory before spreading Jungwoo apart and diving in tongue first.

The night air was filled with the song of insects and the sound of Jungwoo’s moans as he worked. Lucas felt like he was losing his mind, being able to taste the slick he’d dreamt of for years. He pressed his tongue in, encouraged by Jungwoo’s hand in his hair and the way he pressed back into Lucas’ face. He pushed a long finger in beside the wet muscle, feeling how well Jungwoo took it in and easily adding a second, sliding them slowly at first.

“Lucas-”

It was sweet and desperate, and the fist tangled in his hair pulled harder, demanding more. The pace of his fingers increased, testing the stretch, groaning when he knew Jungwoo could take a third. His slick was everywhere now, running down the alpha’s hand to his wrist, and all over Lucas’ face. Eventually he stopped to come up for air, pulling his face away. Jungwoo keened, even as his fingers kept working into his hole. He made some unintelligible noises before it seemed his brain could form words once more, voice high and pleading. "Thought- thought you said you'd help me. S'not enough... Do it- do it _right_."

Lucas was quick to oblige, pulling his fingers out. He wiped the wet off his face even as the hand covered in slick spread the slippery substance along his cock. He lined himself up with Jungwoo’s entrance, hardly wasting any time to push his length in until he bottomed out. The omega’s face, turned sideways, looked wrecked already. Jungwoo was cursing softly, breathily. Being inside of him felt so good that Lucas almost wanted to cry. He pulled back, then snapped forward, moaning low.

“I’ll help you.”

This was so much better than every imagined scenario he’d conjured in the past. Lucas was trying so hard not to lose it and cum already at the enormity of the experience. He knew he was being impatient, barely giving Jungwoo time to acclimate to his length before his thrusts were pressing Jungwoo against the tree. Lucas was getting lost in the rut, this entire situation so overwhelming that he was not able to hold himself back to be as gentle as he should be. It was _so much_. Lucas bit somewhere near Jungwoo’s shoulder to try to steady himself, listening to the omega’s broken cries in the dark.

Jungwoo clawed at the bark of the tree, body rocking with every thrust beneath Lucas’ teeth. Lucas’ hips rolled up into him more insistently until the few brain cells not concerned with fucking Jungwoo thought about Jungwoo pressed uncomfortably up against the hard bark.

Lucas slowed and then pulled away, making Jungwoo whine, almost sob, at the lack. But Lucas wanted to do this right - kind of - by gathering Jungwoo up in his arms and lying him down on the spread blanket.

The omega’s hands pulled at any part of Lucas they could reach, wanting more. Lucas crawled up between his thighs and on top of him in no time, settling until he filled Jungwoo once more. Jungwoo let out something like a sigh at being full once more, opening his eyes to meet Lucas’ stare.

Everything was different, and yet nothing had _really_ changed - except that Lucas was now witness to the way Jungwoo’s expression changed when he started to move once more, watching the omega’s jaw falling slack with sleepy eyes fixed on his own. And this- Nothing prepared Lucas for this.

He watched Jungwoo’s eyes rove wildly, a shade of blue shining in the moonlight, and it made Lucas want to lose his mind. He growled, pounding harder into Jungwoo, because at that moment he was the only one making the omega feel like this. Lucas ran fingers into Jungwoo’s hair, growl still rumbling. Unexpectedly, Jungwoo threw his head back, spine arching, nails digging into Lucas’ back, as he came between them.

Lucas felt Jungwoo clench around him and it sent him over the edge. From muscle memory, he pulled out, not allowing the knot to keep them together. Lucas fisted himself onto Jungwoo’s already wet stomach.

He’d always done this each and every time with his rut partners. He breathed an internal sigh of relief that he’d remembered this time, because the urge to knot was stronger than it had ever been for him.

But Jungwoo frowned, muttering at him pathetically with eyelids that kept drooping. “You didn’t knot me…”

Lucas’ brain short circuited, mouth hanging open a moment in shock. “Y-you… But we aren’t-”

Then Jungwoo’s eyes flew open, a touch of horror on his features. "No! I- uh, I know we're not... like... that."

Lucas settled onto his side next to Jungwoo, still breathing hard as he came back down to earth. The searing heat of rut was finally cooling off as his hormones leveled out for the moment. He stared at Jungwoo, wondering if this was real, or an overgrown fantasy in a rut-fueled delirium.

He reached out to lightly touch Jungwoo’s arm and it felt much too real.

 

“Is that…” Lucas swallowed. “Is that something you really want? Or is that the heat talking?”

Jungwoo couldn’t get himself to meet Lucas’ gaze, feeling disappointment. “It’s just… I know you don’t want me that way. Other than how an alpha wants an omega.” He was mumbling a bit, hesitant to say it. “I guess that’s for the better, since I’ve got-” Jungwoo choked on the words.

 _I’ve got Doyoung._ Fuck.

Lucas had been rubbing his scent all over him for the past hour, and now he’d cum on him, and Jungwoo wouldn’t be able to take enough showers or put on enough body spray to cover this up from Doyoung when he would get back in two days-

A touch of moonlight piercing through the branches overhead illuminated the panic growing in Jungwoo’s eyes.

Then Lucas’ hands were on his cheeks, forcing him to look at his face. “Hey, it’s okay. I told you I’d always take care of you.” Lucas paused, eyes roaming down to Jungwoo’s lips and back again. “I mean it. I’ll do anything you need me to. _Anything._ ”

Jungwoo reached up to lay his own hands over Lucas’, nodding.

“Even-” Lucas continued, “Even knot you. Okay?”

Jungwoo’s gaze searched the alpha’s, mind working hard to comprehend what Lucas was telling him. _He’d knot me?_ He swallowed harshly, feeling tears prick at the corners of his eyes.

They were words he’d always wanted Lucas to tell him, words he’d given up ever hearing from the alpha’s mouth when it became clear Lucas didn’t feel that way about him, pursuing other partners for his rut instead of asking Jungwoo. So this had to be the lust talking, or at the very least, Lucas’ desire to help and protect Jungwoo. His pack brother.

“Lucas… I’m not gonna force you to do that.” Jungwoo finally replied with far more sadness than he meant to color the words.

The alpha’s shook his head. “You’re not forcing me.” Jungwoo watched Lucas bite his lower lip, steady gaze morphing into something shy and skittish, looking away from the omega. “I want to, I just didn’t think… that _you’d_ want to...”

Jungwoo’s face crumpled into heartbreak. How could Lucas ever have thought that _he_ didn’t want to? But the alpha was suddenly sitting up, looking all around as if waking up from a dream.

“Oh. _Shit_.”

He didn’t know how to comfort the alpha, lying very still as more curses fell from Lucas’ mouth. “Ohhhh fuck.” He watched as Lucas’ head fell into his hands.

Jungwoo bit his lip and looked up at the starry sky twinkling through the leaves above. He could feel waves of his heat already creeping up around the edges once more. “You _want_ to?” Jungwoo tried, though he was somewhat afraid of the answer now that Lucas had come to some overwhelming realization.

Lucas’ reply was muffled in his palms. “Yes, I really want to.”

Then the alpha dropped his hands and laid himself down next to Jungwoo again, his tall body curling so that his forehead rested against Jungwoo’s shoulder.

Jungwoo tried to clamp down on the remorse and dismay he felt, thinking about how it had come to this between him and Lucas. Where had these feelings been before he’d gotten with Doyoung? Lucas _actually_ wanted to knot him, to mate with him.

 _This was_ such _a bad idea._

“I’ve always wanted to…” Lucas murmured into the tiny gap between his face and Jungwoo’s shoulder.

The skin along his arm tingled from the gust of hot breath.

“Really?”

Jungwoo knew if he turned his head to look at Lucas right now, he’d do something very stupid. But then again, they’d already fucked up. Why not fuck up some more while they were at it?

"I always knew when you were about to go in heat. It drove me crazy every time because I couldn't do anything about it."

Lucas reached up to run a gentle fingertip down Jungwoo’s arm. The omega shivered and closed his eyes, trying to imagine what it would have been like if Lucas had done something about it back then.

"I... went into heat a week early, when you first presented. You were too out of it to notice."

The finger stopped dead. After a moment or two, Lucas lifted his head up to look at Jungwoo, brows furrowed in thought. “You’re early now too, aren’t you?”

“Yep.” Jungwoo smiled shyly at him. “That’s your fault too.”

The smirk that curled the corner of Lucas’ lips looked a touch prideful, but Jungwoo let it slide because of the fluttering in his chest at the sight.

The alpha laid his head on Jungwoo’s shoulder, content to just stare at one another for a moment. Then the moment passed, and Lucas’ expression shifted suddenly, looking crestfallen. His voice was thick with restrained emotion, though he reached down for Jungwoo’s hand. “Is _this…_ my fault too?”

Jungwoo turned his palm up to catch Lucas’ hand, slotting their fingers together. They’d fucked up with each other. Here, now, and so many times in the past.

“No,” Jungwoo whispered. “This one’s on both of us.”

   

 

Lucas felt his heart jump up into his throat when their hands intertwined. He could feel himself getting hard again, skin starting to burn with the unquenched embers of rut. He did his best to ignore the desire for now, just wanting to enjoy their stolen moment as long as he could.

 _But Doyoung_. Lucas wanted to growl at the guilt swirling in his gut as he thought of it. Somewhere along the way, he’d completely forgotten about Jungwoo’s boyfriend. He could only think of Jungwoo and what the omega needed. No one else. He shut his eyes tight, jaw clenched. There was an overwhelming need to justify what they did, even if it was just to placate his own unease. “What were we supposed to do?” He asked quietly, an edge to his voice. “Just sit around in pain and mindlessly fuck ourselves?”

Jungwoo softly whined next to him. It didn’t sound as if the omega had been satisfied with that option either.

“I haven’t… been alone during a heat in a long time,” Jungwoo said in a whisper, wincing a little at the implication. “But I don’t remember it ever being this bad.” The omega reached over to caress Lucas’ cheek. “I think I get why you sometimes asked someone to help you through it.”

He tilted his head into the touch, chasing Jungwoo’s fingers. “You didn’t have anyone,” Lucas reasoned. “I was just trying help, right?”

It was really not a good enough answer for the wrath they would be facing from Doyoung and the others. Restless, he shifted his legs, curling one over Jungwoo’s. The omega’s skin felt even hotter than his own.

Lucas’ mind was pulled suddenly and inexorably into thoughts of Jungwoo’s soft heated skin and the slick hole between his legs. He shifted, pulling more of himself on top of the omega. Jungwoo’s thighs pressed together, eyes starting to lose focus again.

“I still don’t,” he replied softly, “have anyone, I mean. To help me with this heat.” Jungwoo tugged at Lucas while turning to the side to meet his body. Their hard cocks met between them and _wow_ it was difficult to think. “We've already... We could just. Fuck each other? Again. It- it'll help with the pain. And it's not like we can make things _worse_."

Lucas met the desperation in Jungwoo’s voice with a hard kiss. “Yeah, yeah, you’re right.” He kissed Jungwoo once more, biting at the omega’s bottom lip and eating up the moan it paid him. “Might as well fuck, yeah?” He breathed against those lips.

He reached down, lifting Jungwoo’s leg up by the knee, already angling his hips to take him once more.

 

   

Dawn light soon replaced the shards of moonlight dappling their skin like stardust, birdsong adding to the chorus of ragged breathing and broken moans. Lucas asked Jungwoo twice more to be sure, met with such heartbreaking desperation that the alpha didn’t have it in him to deny Jungwoo the request.

He didn’t pull away this time, letting his knot swell what felt impossibly large inside Jungwoo. He made sure to pepper the omega’s cheeks and jaw with soft kisses as he praised the omega for how well he took it.

They were fully caught up in it now, letting the natural process play out many more times before the cool of morning gave way to the start of the day’s heat, their dying phones buzzing away in the leaf litter nearby. The devices were ignored entirely while Jungwoo rode Lucas, fingers spread across the alpha’s broad chest, cries echoing around the small clearing.

   

 

Lucas lay with Jungwoo curled on top of him, still held together with the knot. He ran long fingers lightly up and down the knobs of Jungwoo’s spine while the omega dozed on his chest. He was incredibly tired himself but didn’t want to fall asleep and miss a single touch between them. Yet his eyelids drooped anyways as he stared at the waving leaves overhead, hand slowing to a stop.

He didn’t know how long he’d dropped off, but his eyes popped open at the sound of a twig snapping. In a panic he reached for a corner of the blanket beside him to cover them both just as Ten and Taeyong came charging toward them with murder in their eyes.

Jungwoo jolted awake, clinging to Lucas fiercely while the alpha attempted to cover their nakedness and sit up at the same time.

 _How in the fuck did they find us?_ His mind screamed, still foggy with sleep.

“WHAT IN THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING?”

The sheer fury in Ten’s voice had Jungwoo trying to hunker further down in Lucas’ arms and the blanket over his back. Lucas fought the urge to growl, arms wrapped protectively around the omega.

“Are you out of your minds?!” Taeyong sounded nearly hysterical, gaze shifting from one to the other. “Did you kidnap him?”

“What?” “No!” He and Jungwoo answered at once.

“I would have expected better out of you, Jungwoo,” Ten started in, voice ice cold. “This is completely irresponsible.”

It was all Lucas could do to keep from raging back. He felt sick, caught like this. Vulnerable and exposed. But they were right, and there wasn’t anything he could do right now still bound to Jungwoo by the knot. They just had to sit there and take the verbal beating.

“Did you think we wouldn’t find you out here? You both stink of pheromones so badly I could sniff you out as soon as we set foot in the park!”

Lucas couldn’t meet anyone’s eyes, not even Jungwoo’s, though he pulled him just a little closer to him for comfort. He felt Jungwoo’s fingers dig tighter into his back.

“Mark called me, frantic because he couldn’t get a hold of you. The boys were worried, afraid they’d been robbed-” Taeyong paced, fingers combing through his hair. “And we woke up to- Ya know what, I’m just gonna have to padlock every fucking door and window in the damn house from now on.”

But something happened to Ten in the next moment as he released a deep breath and visibly calmed. There was still anger in his voice, but it was much less harsh than just a minute ago. “Are you dehydrated? Did you even eat? You’re gonna collapse like that, you idiots!”

It was so motherly that it actually made Lucas irritated. It made him feel like he was incapable of taking care of him and his omega and he snapped back, “Yes, of course we did.”

“We took a break for breakfast like two hours ago,” Jungwoo added, not quite as snippy as Lucas but still sounding annoyed.

“Two hours ago?!”

“How many times do you do this, and WHY IN THE FUCK DIDN’T YOU STOP?”

Ten looked like he was ready to rip off his own arm and beat the both of them with it.

Lucas opened his mouth to answer that but a very expert “Uhhh…” was all that came out of his mouth.

He’d actually lost track of how many times it had been. He felt Jungwoo hold his breath. Taeyong opened his mouth for another scathing remark but was interrupted.

Presently they heard more footsteps in the distance, and Lucas’ head swiveled round to find Mark, looking dumbstruck in the distance, eyes wide as saucers. The younger beta about-faced, screaming toward the sound of many more approaching footsteps, “Back to the car, everyone!”

The four of them listened to the sound of Mark and the boys, voices all excited and worried questions, as they dwindled away to nothing in the distance.

“Please go away.” Jungwoo demanded in the silence.

Ten looked ready to throw down. “Excuse me?”

Lucas just stared at the omega in his arms, wondering why he was challenging the pack leaders like this-

“I can get up now and you really don’t want to be here when that happens.”

Taeyong put his face in his palm. “Oh, god.”

Lucas felt his face heat up in embarrassment. The swell of his knot had definitely diminished.

The two omega leaders turned to give them space, Ten shouting over his shoulder, “We’re only fifty feet away! Don’t you dare run!”

They waited until Ten and Taeyong were some distance away behind a tree with their backs to them before Jungwoo reached down between them. Lucas threw off the blanket to let Jungwoo stand, both fascinated and horrified at the amount of cum beginning to stream through the omega’s fingers almost as soon as his body released Lucas. The alpha pulled the rest of the comforter out of the way, letting the fluids splash messily onto the flattened grass.

“I’m- I’m sorry.” Lucas muttered to Jungwoo, not sure how to help him.

Jungwoo reached for his ruined shorts nearby and wiped most of the mess away like he’d done this all his life, scoffing at Lucas in answer and rolling his eyes. But he was faintly smiling, opening his mouth to reply when-

"Are you done yet?” Ten called.

“It’s only been like a minute, oh my god-” Jungwoo fumed before he got himself under control once more.

Jungwoo’s clothes were ruined, so Lucas wrapped him up carefully in the blanket before finding his own clothes to get dressed.

   

 

The car ride home was unpleasant at best. And very quiet. The drive itself wasn’t very long since the park was rather close by car. Lucas was silent, staring down at his hands and stealing glances at the angry blanket burrito huddled against the opposite door of the backseat.

There were leaves and bits of grass all over the comforter the omega was wrapped up in, and Lucas reached across the seat to pick some of it off.

Ten slapped Lucas’ hand away. He had planted himself between the pair in the backseat while Taeyong drove them home, knuckles white over the steering wheel.

Lucas scoffed, but under the cutting gaze of the omega leader, he felt himself reverting into a scolded child. Lamely he explained, “It’s _my_ blanket…”

“Well, that makes _one_ thing that’s yours.”

Lucas grimaced and saw Jungwoo slouch further down in his seat, face disappearing into the blanket bunched up around his shoulders.

The ride was silent after that, and Lucas forced himself to look out the window, thinking about how much he’d like very much to punch something right now.

 

Ten was furious. Of course he was. He felt awful for Doyoung, thoughts going to what might happen when they came home tomorrow as Taeyong drove the four of them home in the omega leaders’ cute little suburban. He’d settled himself between the Pair of Idiots in the backseat, just in case they had some more brilliant self-destructive ideas left in their single-celled brains.

His mate in the driver’s seat was agitated, and he wanted so much to hold Taeyong and tell him it was going to be okay. But, at present, he had to play enforcer to the Stupid Squad, adding another layer to his frustration. When they pulled into the drive, he reached over to pop the door on Lucas’ side before Taeyong had even shut the car off. “Out.”

The alpha pressed his lips together and did as he was told. Ten ushered Lucas into the house and immediately shoved him into the bathroom. “Shower. Now.” He reached for a towel on the rack, shoved it into Lucas’ arms, and slammed the door. He passed Taeyong guiding Jungwoo upstairs to the master bathroom, stepping outside just as Mark and the boys were piling out of the van. Ten felt bad for the young beta currently being interrogated.

"Why is Lucas-hyung in trouble?"

"You'll get it when you're older.”

"Is Jungwoo-hyung okay?"

"Maybe."

"Why were they in the woods?"

"I don't know."

"Is Doyoungie-hyung going to be mad at them too?"

"...I don't know."

Ten met them on the sidewalk. “Sorry boys. Time to go back home with Mark.”

“But Ten-hyung-”

“Trust me, you’re not going to want to be in the middle of this.”

Some of the boys groaned, reluctantly stepping back up into the van. Mark stayed behind a moment to give Ten a questioning look.

“Just… call me if you need anything, hyung.”

The omega simply gave him a curt nod and stood with arms crossed, watching as the van pulled out and down the road. He let out a deep breath when they were out of sight and let his gaze fall down to his feet.

Yes, he was furious. But he’d seen the knot. Lucas and Jungwoo were probably more mated than Jungwoo and Doyoung had ever been.

Ten allowed himself a few minutes alone to gather his thoughts before he went back into the house.

Taeyong was sitting on the couch, hand near his mouth and gaze off into space when he stepped inside. He didn’t even look up when Ten sat next to him and wrapped an arm around him. He kissed Taeyong’s temple.

“It’ll be okay.”

Ten’s mate continued to chew at a fingernail a moment. “Why us?”

He sighed and shook his head, rubbing along Taeyong’s side comfortingly. “Comes with the territory, I guess.”

It was a private joke of theirs, and the corner of Taeyong’s mouth twitched up in the hint of a smile.

“This is gonna suck.”

Ten sighed. “Yeah.”

Lucas was the first out, looking like a soldier going to war. Ten stood and pointed to a corner of the large couch. The alpha slipped into the seat without a word, face blank as they waited a few minutes in tense silence. Jungwoo made his way down the stairs, steps slow as if he were going to his execution.

Well, he might as well have been, Ten thought, even as his heart panged with sympathy for these two. They were still so young. And stupid.

“Sit.” Ten pointed to the opposite end of the large couch from Lucas and sat in the middle between them.

Lucas couldn’t seem to take his eyes off Jungwoo. Ten had to admit the younger omega _did_ look quite unwell at the moment.

“Can I please just hold his hand?” Lucas asked, deep voice slow with forced calm.

“Absolutely not!”

Jungwoo shifted, tucking his feet under him up on the couch and crossing his arms. He didn’t meet anyone’s eyes as he said, “We're mated now, you can't keep us apart."

That was the first time it had been said aloud- that _any_ of them had acknowledged the fact.

Ten gripped his own knees hard enough his knuckles turned white and he wasn’t sure it would leave bruises, meeting Taeyong’s gaze. They shared a look of utter panic because fucking hell, he was right. _What the hell are we gonna do about this?_

Taeyong rose from his seat, angry, and started pacing.

Lucas was staring at Jungwoo, eyes a bit wide.

“But what about Doyoung?” Taeyong blurted. “Aren’t you two already-” He gestured at Jungwoo’s body.

The omega blushed. “We never… Uh… Fully.” He picked needlessly at the arm of the couch.

Lucas looked like he was about ready to have an aneurism. “Wha…”

They’d fucked, but never knotted.

“Doyoung was always… really conservative when it came to those things.” Jungwoo muttered in explanation.

The alpha beside him sank back into the couch cushions.

Of course, Ten thought. Doyoung was one of the most traditional members of their pack. Of course he’d take it slow with his boyfriend. It was the whole entire reason he had even gone on the hunting trip with the others. The omega leader shut his eyes tight. _Fuck, this is such god-awful timing._

“So you didn’t give a shit about Doyoung when you did this?” Ten found himself asking, livid on the absent alpha’s behalf.

“Did you ever even think of him?” Taeyong added.

“Of course I did…” Jungwoo whispered, shrinking down into the couch.

Lucas went tense, looking like he wanted to attack Ten and Taeyong for drilling Jungwoo like this. Ten swallowed against a lump in his throat. This was nothing compared to what would come when they got home.

But the alpha was getting overprotective of his mate, and might very well snap if they kept up like this.

“Taeyong, take Jungwoo upstairs. I think we need to talk to these two alone.”

Ten turned to face Lucas, watching the alpha’s eyes follow Jungwoo’s movement as Taeyong once more took him upstairs to his room. He watched the muscle along Lucas’ jaw ripple as he grit his teeth.

When the younger omega was out of sight, Lucas’ hard gaze snapped back to Ten. He eyed the omega leader up and down. “Stop trying to act like an alpha. You’re too short to be one.”

Ten laughed internally and kept his face blank as he replied. "Ah yes, because you know exactly how a good, responsible alpha should act."

He expected the growl that Lucas gave him in answer, but he also saw the pain in the alpha’s eyes. Ten had definitely hit a nerve there.

"Look, I did what I had to do for Jungwoo, okay? He needed me."

"No, he needed _Doyoung_. His _proper_ mate. Don't you dare pretend you did this out of selflessness."

Lucas spluttered in frustration. "And where the fuck is he now? He left with Jungwoo about to go in heat!"

Ten heard the uncertainty in Lucas’ voice at that one, and resisted narrowing his eyes at the alpha. He wouldn’t have known that the omegas kept a calendar of each other’s heats. He stared at Lucas blankly.

"But it doesn't matter, because _he_ asked me to." He added.

"He asked you in the middle of his heat!” Ten quipped. “When he wasn't thinking properly! Doyoung is trying to do things the _right_ way and was supposed to be back just before Jungwoo's heat started, along with--" He cut himself off mid-rant, wondering if it was his place to tell Lucas this. _He'll find out soon enough_ , Ten supposed. His voice dropped low, husky with the weight of grave information. "Doyoung was on a hunting trip for a mating gift, you selfish bastard."

All the anger went out of Lucas' face along with his color.

 

Taeyong sat on the edge of Jungwoo’s bed with him, unwashed sheets still a crumpled mess behind them. He took a deep breath before he began, trying to be gentle and slow with the other omega despite all the frustration he felt at the situation.

Jungwoo was pouting, and for a moment it made Taeyong feel sorry for him. Want to comfort him. But he couldn’t give in right now. This was serious, and Taeyong had to be sure.

"Jungwoo. I know a lot has happened and we're all still kind of in shock, but-" And he made sure Jungwoo was meeting his eyes. "I need you to tell me the truth."

It was hard to even say it. But he’d seen other omegas try to cover for alphas before. He took another deep breath and took Jungwoo’s hand in his own to help him cope with this huge question. He said it slowly and calmly, watching Jungwoo’s expression. “Did Lucas force you?”

Jungwoo’s eyes had widened as he shook his head frantically.  "N-No! If anything, I forced him! Well, kinda of, I mean- I... I asked him to do it."

Taeyong let out his breath and closed his eyes to process all this. It seemed like Jungwoo was telling the truth, but he had to double check. Had to know. "Okay," he said slowly. “Well that's kind of a relief, but-” He popped his eyes back open. "You _asked_ him?"

Jungwoo hesitated. “Uhhh...” And Taeyong watched Jungwoo’s expression become resigned, gaze falling down to where he fiddled with his own fingers. "I asked him to help. A-and then I asked him to knot me when he didn't. After the first time."

That was good. So Lucas hadn’t overstepped his bounds in _that_ particular arena, at least, if what Jungwoo was saying was true. And from the starstruck look in Jungwoo’s eyes, it certainly seemed to be truth. But they both had gone behind Doyoung’s back. He rubbed at his face, still reigning in the irritation. “But… why?”

Jungwoo met his gaze for just a moment. “Because we’d always promised each other that we’d take care of each other.” Then his eyes fell back down to his lap, a gentle smile on his lips. "I've always... Lucas has always been there. Always. And I ignored it because I thought he didn't... want me, like that." Jungwoo’s feet kicked over the edge of the bed. “But he did- he does.”

It was a sweet sentiment, and made a hell of a lot of sense concerning the relationship between those two, Taeyong pondered. However, the omega leader screamed internally at the timing of the universe and how all it’s stupid fucking children inhabitants couldn’t figure out their own goddamn feelings before jumping into a relationship with someone who was on their way home with a mating trophy, and _fuuuccccckkkk_ -

"You really couldn't have picked a better time to figure this out," he snapped.

Jungwoo flinched.  "I didn't _mean_ to do this now. And I don't _want_ to hurt Doyoung. I know-- I know I shouldn't have cheated, but. It'll be okay. Right, Taeyong? Doyoung will be angry but... he's handsome, and sweet, he'll find someone new soon enough. And then the pack will be fine." He slid a sad and hopeful glance at Taeyong.

Taeyong groaned.”Ugh, you really _are_ mated.” He looked up at the ceiling. “Why me?” He whispered to the air.

The acknowledgment of their bond made Jungwoo soften next to him, looking like his heart had swollen with those words. If Taeyong had to be honest with himself, it felt right. Even in the middle of a whole lot of wrong.

 

 _How ridiculously traditional of him_ was the first thought to float through Lucas’ shocked mind. Doyoung had always been that kind of guy. Exactly the opposite of himself.

It had been strange enough to grow up with an omega as your best friend, when you were an alpha, and _not fuck_ like everyone else thought you would. But then again, Lucas had two omegas as pack leaders. He was also one of the younger generation who sought out willing omegas for rut partners, and also let omegas use him for their heats when he could.

He had grown up with anything but tradition. Of course it wouldn’t have occurred to him that this was why Doyoung and the others had gone.

Lucas slowly swung his gaze to Ten. The omega leader had his arms crossed, looking vindicated by Lucas’ expression, though there was a tinge of sympathy shining through. He opened his mouth to ask Ten, “ _Then why did he ask me to knot him?_ ” but instead his jaw clamped shut and he looked down at the carpet. He’d never felt so horrible in his life.

The guilt and shame felt unbearable. He thought of running, but it wouldn’t change the situation for Jungwoo and Doyoung. And the thought of leaving Jungwoo somehow hurt worse than the remorse.

There was softness in the omega’s voice when he finally spoke. "At least... tell me you mean it, with Jungwoo. That it matters to you as much as it would have mattered to Doyoung."

It took him a deep breath and several seconds to collect himself from his self-deprecating thoughts before he could find the words to answer. He didn’t move to look at Ten, hands hung uselessly between his knees.

"I've meant it for years," he said quietly. "Since we first presented.” He swallowed against the growing lump in his throat. “But I didn't ever think he felt the same way. And especially not after he started dating-" Lucas choked on Doyoung's name.

Ten sighed heavily in the exact same way his partner was currently doing upstairs and rubbed at his face.

"When he gets back he's going to challenge you. You know that, right?"

Lucas tried to imagine fighting Doyoung, feeling both fear and a thrill of excitement tightening his stomach. The animal in him knew he would try to rip Doyoung apart for Jungwoo. But then the rational side of his brain reminded him that Jungwoo would be devastated if that were to happen. Not to mention he was part of their pack. He couldn’t. Lucas ran nervous fingers through his hair, trying to figure out how this would even play out, stopping when the two omegas descended the stairs and entered the living room.

His nose turned to the heavy scent of Jungwoo, feeling some of the tension in his shoulders begin to immediately lessen. Lucas met Jungwoo’s dark eyes, silently questioning. The omega started toward him, Taeyong not fast enough to grab him before he did so, and planted himself in Lucas’ lap before either of the omega leaders could open their mouths.

Lucas wrapped his arms around the omega, whose nose had planted itself against the alpha’s neck to comfort him. Lucas realized his distress must have been completely apparent to have Jungwoo react this way. He nuzzled Jungwoo in return, only then noticing the look Ten and Taeyong are giving one another - annoyed but defeated. And much calmer.

Lucas leaned back into the couch cushions with Jungwoo and just sat still, savoring the moment, breathing in the scent of his mate. He allowed himself the tiniest smile at the thought.  

Eventually Ten and Taeyong left them to go talk in the dining room alone together. But the pair left behind were silent, processing everything that had happened. Soon Jungwoo’s weight pressed into his chest where the omega had fallen asleep. The pressure was soothing and Lucas’ eyes blinked closed to follow him into slumber.

 

It was late when they finally stirred, the long summer hours melting into the protracted dusk of the season. Jungwoo found a blanket thrown over them and wondered which of the other omegas had made the kind gesture as he rubbed at his eyes.

He pushed himself up to look at Lucas, the big alpha’s arms still limply wrapped over him. One brown eye creaked open from where his head lay thrown over the back of the couch, meeting Jungwoo’s groggy expression with a tired smile.

The air was redolent with cinnamon, vanilla, and sugar coming from the kitchen.

“Smells like Taeyong is stress baking again.”

Lucas lifted his head with a grunt, arms shifting to escape the confines of the blanket.

Jungwoo searched his face, trying to gauge how his alpha was feeling after resting so long. “Sleep well?”

Big hands crept up to his face as Lucas silently nodded, looking a little out of sorts though Jungwoo was sure he was in better spirits now. The alpha pulled Jungwoo’s face toward his own for a brief, chaste kiss.

If his stomach hadn’t grumbled right then, Jungwoo was sure they could have been content to just stare into each other’s eyes for several minutes.

“Time to go raid your fridge,” Lucas husked, voice deep and gravelly with sleep.

He made to get up but Jungwoo didn’t budge, forcing him to stay put for a moment.

“Lucas,” he began, but didn’t quite know what to ask.

He knew the situation wasn’t exactly okay, and didn’t want to ask that question. Asking Lucas how he felt made Jungwoo fear the alpha wouldn’t be entirely truthful with him, giving him an exaggerated sense of happiness for the omega’s sake.

“We’ll be okay.” Lucas replied to the unspoken question, surprising Jungwoo.

It was an acknowledgment that they had a lot of work ahead of them, but behind it was hope. This was going to be tough, but they’d make it through together. They always had.

Jungwoo’s breath caught, and a tiny smile broke over Lucas’ face.

It occurred to him in that moment that Lucas had always had that hope inside him, a mirrored companion of Jungwoo’s own, buried under every smile and joke and embrace they’d shared. Their love confession had been in those words often repeated:

_“Promise me we’ll always take care of each other, no matter what.”_

_“I promise.”_

He felt tears prick his eyes and blinked against the growing wet.

Lucas lovingly thumbed away the wet. As if reading his mind, he whispered to Jungwoo, “We promised.”

Physical needs forgotten, Jungwoo curled himself back into Lucas’ arms and sobbed quietly for a few minutes, releasing all the stress, the anger at himself, and the relief that the one alpha who had remained constant in his life would never leave him.

 

When Jungwoo had stopped crying, Lucas running his fingers slowly through the omega’s hair, Ten poked his head out of the kitchen, looking warily at both of them.

“Ah, you’re up.”

Jungwoo wiped roughly at his face with the heel of his hand and turned toward the voice.

The omega leader looked nervous, eyes flitting between their faces and the floor. “There’s some leftovers if you’re hungry. And then we need to talk.”

They both got up, Lucas gently teasing Jungwoo about his leg being asleep, before they both saw to their needs. The pair enjoyed a fairly quiet meal and fresh cookies while Ten and Taeyong hovered nervously at the other side of the table. Their posture made him uncomfortable, food beginning to sit heavy in his stomach as it seemed they had something grave to tell him. Lucas looked confused but his expression was severe. It must be about Doyoung, he thought to himself, and prepared his heart for ill news. He’d be coming back tomorrow night.

Jungwoo pushed his empty plate away and reached for a cookie, attempting nonchalance. “So.” He took a small bite. “What is it?”

Taeyong gave Ten a look and cleared his throat. “Well, there’s something I- _we_ need to tell you-”

Everyone’s phones buzzed all at once, a cacophony of electronic melodies assaulting them from one room to the next. Lucas rose to get his phone from the living room just before Mark burst through the front door. The heavy wood slammed against the wall as Mark started frantically calling, “Hyung? Hyung!”

They were scrambling out into the living room in seconds at the distress in his voice, Jungwoo marching straight for Lucas staring out the window at something-

   

 

Doyoung’s leg had been shaking for the past hour, vibrations growing stronger the closer they got to home.

Johnny reached over from the driver’s seat, across Jaehyun, to put a firm hand on his knee. “Relax.”

His immediate reaction was to tense at the fact an alpha was telling him what to do, forgetting that for all intents and purposes, Johnny was head alpha while his head was spinning with anxiety.

He rubbed at his face and groaned, glancing toward the back seat where Yuta, Kun, and Taeil all sat. “Hyung, I’m so nervous,” he said quietly, smiling and laughing with the nerves.

“Jungwoo’s gonna freak out when he sees it, don’t worry-” Taeil started, but the look in Doyoung’s eyes must have made him amend, “In a good way, I mean. He’s gonna be really happy, Doyoungie.”

The alpha in question took a deep breath and put both hands to his cheeks. “You really think so?”

Johnny snorted, eyes still on the road. “What, you want us to take the deer back?” He quipped, tone wry.

“Hyung,” Doyoung whined.

They all chuckled at that, eyes twinkling.

They passed a road sign. “We’re almost home.” Johnny commented. “I know we’ve been radio silent so no one would but Ten and Taeyong would find out, but we should probably call the boys to the house for the occasion, especially since we’re way earlier than expected.” He glanced toward Doyoung, brow raised. “Right?”

“Ah!” Yuta exclaimed excitedly. “This is so romantic!”

“It’s too bad we couldn’t bring Lucas with us, he would have really liked the hunt,” Kun commented.

“He would have liked to shoot a gun, I think. I’m not sure about the rest.” Doyoung laughed and everyone followed suit.

“Alright, I’ll text Mark so he can get the boys ready.” Jaehyun said, pulling out his phone and typing something while he asked Doyoung, “Should I text Lucas too?”

He hesitated a moment to answer. Lucas was almost sure to be by Jungwoo’s side as his best friend. He _could_ ask Lucas to keep Jungwoo back so he’d be the last to see the surprise, but- “But he’s probably on his rut by now,” he recalled.

“Oh, right.”

“We’ll let Mark decide if Lucas is okay enough to join us.” Johnny decided after a moment of thought.

He was right. Mark and the boys would probably be with Lucas at the alpha house anyways. “I hope Jungwoo won’t be too upset if Lucas can’t make it,” Doyoung mused.

The ten minute ride was silent after that, except for the rustling of Doyoung’s leg as it bounced incessantly.

 

It was nearly full dark when they pulled into the driveway at the omega house. “Oh good, Mark got everyone gathered up,” Taeil remarked while Johnny shut off the engine.

Doyoung’s eyes were locked on Jungwoo’s, the omega’s face darkened under the roof of the porch. Lucas was right beside him.

Doyoung chewed on his lip, feeling the fear and elation coursing in waves through him, and Johnny and Jaehyun were smiling encouragingly at him, gesturing for him to get out of the truck. The betas in the backseat had all piled out already with secretive smiles.

This was it, he thought. Do or die. He stepped out, taking a deep breath, and slammed the door closed again as he looked up at Jungwoo.

“Jungwoo!” He called, mouth unable to keep from stretching into a gummy smile.

No one moved, even the younger boys, taking furtive glances at one another where they stood in the grass. Were they that surprised?

Doyoung moved to the back of the truck with quick steps, like a child eager to show off his new toy. Beside the buck carcass, he unwrapped the bundle of antlers he’d spent the last day and a half carving. He took a moment to admire his handiwork, swirling etches a symbol of his devotion and protection, before jumping down to the concrete.

“Doyoung,” Jungwoo breathed from the porch.

He sounded choked up with emotion and Doyoung’s heart swelled with love and pride. The words he’d rehearsed replayed themselves in his head, and he walked ceremoniously with the antlers held out before him. When he stepped off the driveway and into the grass, he made himself look up to take in the looks on everyone’s faces.

His smile faltered at the shock and sadness spread all around him on ghostly pale faces. Ten and Taeyong wouldn’t meet his eyes and his stomach lurched. Jaehyun was tense, grimacing. Doyoung turned to Johnny, confused mind seeking the head alpha’s guidance. He had his teeth bared at _Jungwoo_ -

Doyoung’s gaze whipped back to his boyfriend, wondering at the horrified tears streaming down the omega’s face, body half-turned toward Lucas as if seeking the alpha’s comfort.

He registered the smell the same time he realized Jungwoo was holding Lucas’s hand, fingers intertwined. Doyoung’s eyes traveled slowly up the tall alpha’s arm to his face, where Lucas met his look, unwavering, with a stern but shameful expression.

His heart seemed to sink all the way down to his feet, painfully punching into the hard earth before bouncing once more into his throat with a wave of hot anger. His whole body seemed to ache as he stared blankly at the two of them, antlers gripped tightly in both fists.

Somehow he didn’t growl. He didn’t yell. He couldn’t tell if his eyes changed color but he was sure they hadn’t. Yet.

There was a miserable place deep down inside him that reminded him of his worst fears. A black creeping worm of anguished awareness that he’d long since reasoned away.

Jungwoo and Lucas had always been close. Jungwoo had told him - had even heard him say it to Lucas - that they were _brothers,_ and they promised they’d always take care of each other. He’d always found himself questioning exactly what it was between the two, but neither of them had ever acted on it. Lucas inevitably sought out the company of other omegas, and Jungwoo had chosen _him._ He’d chosen Doyoung. And Doyoung thought that perhaps Jungwoo would _keep_ choosing him.

But here they were, smelling of one another. Smelling _mated_. And that black worm writhed its cold grip over his heart and told him that he should have seen this coming.

 

 _No,_ he thought, _not this. Anything but this_.

He’d felt the grip of their hands flinch under Doyoung’s gaze, instinct warring in himself whether to pull away or commit to curling himself against Lucas’ chest. He did neither, watching the cold rage burn in his boyfr- no. In Doyoung’s eyes.

This was why Ten and Taeyong were so angry at them, he realized. They knew. They had been trying to tell him before the hunting party had arrived today, a day early. By the look on the pair’s faces, they didn’t expect them here so soon either.

Doyoung had probably been so eager, planning everything so thoroughly, that he’d been successful in his hunt far earlier than anticipated. He would have been in a rush to get home, to present to his lover a proper mating trophy.

A whole stag to prove he could provide, and the antlers removed and carved by hand to prove his devotion.

It was so traditional and symbolic that it hurt. It was just like Doyoung.

Jungwoo felt the shame of his betrayal burning like fire in his joints, losing strength in his legs as they shook with the burden of this situation. He felt as if those cold eyes from the alpha with the antlers in his hands was worse than any pain he’d ever suffered in heat. Those eyes cut him open, spilled his guts on the floor, flayed the skin off his flesh. Tears stung hot and fresh, streaming rivulets down his cheeks. _No._ _I hadn’t meant for this._

His mouth wouldn’t work, tongue stuck, so he pleaded with his former lover with eyes clouded with tears.

But Doyoung would no longer meet his gaze at all, as if trying to will Jungwoo’s existence away. It was too much. His knees buckled, Lucas’s arms wrapping round his waist in split second reaction to keep the omega from falling. Sicheng was beside him a second later, touch meant to comfort. He didn’t deserve these touches. It was Doyoung who needed th-

“You let this happen?” Doyoung had turned his hard eyes on Ten and Taeyong.

Jungwoo swung his head toward them. The omega leaders looked incredulous at the presumption. He thought he could even hear a low growl from one of them.

Jungwoo could feel the ire directed at Lucas and himself from Johnny without even looking. Jaehyun and the others seemed to be in shock, and the younger boys behind Mark all looked ready to leave to escape the tense atmosphere.

Ten crossed his arms and glared back at Doyoung - a move that Jungwoo admired the omega greatly for, since most omegas would be crazy to defy an angry alpha. “If we’d known they were going to sneak out at night, I would have chained the idiots to their beds myself.”

It hurt to hear it voiced like that, but Jungwoo stopped from pitying himself when he told himself that “sneaking out” was exactly what it had been. Yet the implication behind the statement left a bitter taste in his mouth behind the salt of his tears.

“Don’t blame them, Doyoung,” Lucas added.

Jungwoo was surprised Lucas’ voice could stay so even. His mate sounded calm, resigned. It made Jungwoo even more scared for what was about to happen.

Lucas continued, voice low. "Just take it out on me. I'll... I won't even fight back."

Jungwoo’s eyes went wide. “No,” he protested in a weak whisper.

But Lucas was already guiding Jungwoo into Taeyong and Sicheng’s arms before stepping down from the porch.

   

 

His stomach tightened at the sound of Jungwoo sobbing behind him on the porch, but he stepped toward Doyoung with resolute purpose.

"You've already done... this. And now you won't even give me the satisfaction of trying to salvage my pride in a fair fight?" Doyoung scowled. "I know you don't care about tradition, but at least have the decency to give me that."

Pride. Lucas had had to swallow plenty of his own down to even suggest this means of recompense to him.

"This... this isn't about pride, Doyoung. I don't wanna hurt you." Lucas glanced behind him at Jungwoo who was watching this play out in horror, frozen to the spot. "For Jungwoo's sake."

Doyoung bared his teeth at Jungwoo's name. "You don't want to hurt me? Too _fucking_ late."

Without looking, the scorned alpha threw the antlers at the porch stairs, the bone-like horns clattering as they spun and danced across the concrete. The omegas on the porch flinched at the projectiles unexpectedly launched their direction.

“Doyoung,” Lucas said quietly, picking his words carefully. “No matter what happens - it’s not going to _un-_ mate us. Even if you kill me-” He paused, swallowing. How was he supposed to tell Doyoung that Jungwoo won’t take him back even if he’s dead? Lucas shook his head. “We’re still pack.”

If he was honest with himself, Lucas would have realized that he was very afraid right now. He’d never been in a real fight. Only the play fights of yet-unpresented alphas when he was younger. He was also afraid of hurting Doyoung, that his instincts would take over and he’d fuck up this whole situation even worse.

Doyoung simply growled at him, eyes beginning to turn crimson at the edges, body shifting into a fighting posture.

Lucas sighed. Nothing he’d said would change how Doyoung felt, and it wouldn’t take back what they did. He dropped into his own fighting stance reluctantly. “If that’s what you want.”

He waited for Doyoung to make the first move, and his brows arched in surprise when Doyoung turned his gaze to Jungwoo. Lucas watched something wicked take over Doyoung’s features as all the pain he felt manifested into primal rage. When his gaze swivelled back to Lucas, his irises had become fully blood red. His growl sounded otherwordly just before he launched himself at Lucas.

The taller alpha let Doyoung take a few swings, holding back as he let the hits roll off his body. He was being tested, he knew, but still he blocked the hits while the others watched them in ceremonious silence.

Doyoung feinted a punch just before his weight shifted and Lucas felt a knee crash painfully into his rib. He staggered back away from him, wincing, and waited for Doyoung to come at him again.

The older alpha screamed at him, wordless, coming at him harder and faster. But still, Lucas didn’t throw a single punch. He took the fists buffeting his sides and occasionally his face with only a few grunts. Doyoung growled in rage.

“Fucking fight me already!”

The next fist caught Lucas’ ear, his whole body twisting toward the ground from the force of it. He caught himself on his hands before he fully hit the ground, shaking his head from the sudden ringing.

Doyoung watched Lucas pick himself up, teeth bared. “A whore like Jungwoo deserves a half-assed alpha like you,” he snarled.

There was a burning building in Lucas’ chest at the words, adrenaline crashing through his veins, lungs filled to aching. He stood, wiping blood from his face as he locked eyes with Doyoung. Lucas’ voice didn’t sound like it belonged to him as it rumbled, “Don’t you ever talk about Jungwoo like that again.”

His body was moving toward Doyoung before he could comprehend it, tackling him hard to the ground with a snarl. Primal instincts took over, teeth snapping as he scrambled up to sit on the smaller alpha. He gave Doyoung no time to retaliate, punches wailing into his face one after another. Someone around them was screaming, maybe shouting his name, but he couldn’t tell over the pounding of blood in his ears and the fire in his bones.

He could tell the alpha on the ground was stunned from the viciousness of his attack, his nose crooked and face bleeding. But Doyoung didn’t take it for long.

Arms reached up to Lucas’ neck, fingernails digging into the skin, and twisted him to the side with startling strength. Lucas’ back hit the ground, hands wrapping around his neck. He reached for Doyoung’s wrists, trying to pry off the chokehold.

The black-haired alpha turned his head to the side, a spray of red launching from his mouth. Lucas winced as the blood spattered onto his bare neck and shoulder. Doyoung’s eyes were wide, looking half-mad and intent on the kill. Lucas couldn’t seem to pull the smaller alpha off of him, either, fingers digging hard into Doyoung’s wrists. But they wouldn’t budge, and he felt his head pounding against the asphyxiating grasp.

“Lucas!” Jungwoo shrieked from somewhere to his right, the other omegas holding him back.  

He kicked hard off the ground, bringing both knees harshly into the spine of the man sitting on his stomach. It was enough to throw Doyoung forward over him, hands around Lucas’ neck released. He sucked in a gasp of air against his ravaged throat as a body moved over his face. Lucas' jaws reacted before anything, sinking teeth into the flesh of the thigh currently over his face. Doyoung howled in pain, rolling off and scrambling upright in an instant.

Lucas moved to follow, but Doyoung’s foot was already pulling up to descend on his face. Intuitively, he rolled his shoulder up to block the booted foot.

Something snapped.

Lucas lay clutching at his arm, mouth open in silent agony. A whimper squeaked past his damaged throat, wide eyes blurring with pain as he stared at the blades of grass beside his face. There were voices, people moving all around him in rustles and scuffs.

But Doyoung wasn’t done. His foot came down once more onto Lucas’ unprotected stomach.

He lay gasping uselessly for air that wouldn’t enter his body, tears of pain beginning to wet his eyes.

His whole body lurched once again with a kick to his ribs and he rolled right over his dislocated shoulder, fresh spikes of pain lancing through him. Like someone threw a switch, breath gasped raggedly back into his wracked body and he screamed brokenly.

Lucas writhed in anguish, head turning so that his gaze settled on the man hovering over him. Blood covered his face in a terrifying mask, red eyes glaring out from under the shadow of his dark locks. For a moment Lucas was sure the other alpha had become some sort of demon.

“ _Let me go!”_  Jungwoo shrieked from the distance.

He felt tears stream hot onto his cheeks, falling down into the dirt, as Doyoung’s body rippled with movement, leg cocking back for another brutal blow.

Johnny and Jaehyun were there in an instant, pulling Doyoung back away from Lucas’ tortured body. Lucas couldn’t tear his gaze from the feral look in Doyoung’s red eyes, who was pushing against the alphas holding him back as if not realizing they existed. He thought perhaps he’d driven Doyoung to insanity as he lay curled on the ground in anguish.

Then there were hands on him, someone frantic and choking on sobs.

"-ver, Doyoung, it's over!" Johnny was saying beside him.

Lucas could only watch as Doyoung blinked as if waking from a dream, staring down at Jungwoo clutching at Lucas’ shirt. The dark-haired alpha froze then, something like regret wrinkling his brow before the red in his eyes began to fade. He shrugged off Johnny and Jaehyun, about-facing and walking fast further away into the grass. Someone followed him, but Lucas couldn’t tell who it was.

He turned to Jungwoo then, sight wavering as the pain wracked through him. There were voices and hands all around him, telling Jungwoo to move so they could help. But his mate clung to him, body shaking with sobs and fear. He reached for Jungwoo’s trembling fingers to calm him down.

The pain was intense and he closed his eyes against the agony, crying out when many hands lifted him off the warm earth in low, tense voices. He was carried up into something, the nearby purr of the engine telling him it was the van. Eventually he lay awkwardly curled up on the backseat, his head in Jungwoo’s lap.

When he opened his eyes to the streetlights flashing over his face, he saw Johnny and Ten in the front seats.

Jungwoo was sobbing quietly above him, and Lucas felt his tears land in his caramel-colored locks. He groaned and whimpered at the flashes of pain as they drove, body lighting on fire with every bump and turn.

He turned his head a fraction to look at Jungwoo, unable to hear him crying any longer. It left a hollow feeling in his belly.

“Hey,” he croaked, and Jungwoo’s reddened eyes looked down at him, full of worry.

He smiled, fingers reaching for Jungwoo, who met their weakened grip as if Lucas was on his deathbed.

“I’ll be fine.”

Jungwoo somehow gave the tiniest smirk in return. After a moment he replied quietly, “This is the worst car ride I’ve ever had.”

“Even worse than this morning?” Lucas joked, voice husky.

Jungwoo scoffed, but there humor lighting his eyes up a bit more, smudging away the worry and sadness.

“You know,” Lucas added playfully, “I _told_ him he could kick my ass.”

Jungwoo smacked him out of habit for the dumb joke and Lucas winced at the lance of pain through his frame. The omega was apologizing relentlessly, fresh tears spilling out from his eyes.

“Literally the only time you could manage to hurt me, you weenie,” Lucas teased.

But it worked. Jungwoo was smiling softly through his tears. “Shut up.”

 

The doctor sighed as he looked over the x-rays. “What happened?” He asked, though it was clear he knew exactly the reason and was asking simply out of professional courtesy.

The nurses had already cleaned most of Lucas up, blood scrubbed away and cuts bandaged. He’d been given pain meds and lay very quietly on the raised hospital bed.

No one really answered him, looking around at each other, but the doc waved them off. “Don’t worry about it. I’ve seen worse come through here.”

He stepped toward Lucas. “You have a cracked rib and your shoulder is dislocated.” He helped Lucas sit up, moving behind him to angle his arm in the correct position. “This is gonna hurt a bit,” he said as he rotated the arm and it popped audibly back into place.

Lucas’ breath hissed at the pain before it seemed a wave of relief washed over him and he moved the arm experimentally.

“Newly mated?” The doctor asked, helping Lucas lower himself back onto the angled mattress as he looked to Jungwoo, who nodded. “Congratulations,” he said, tone a tad dry.

Lucas and Jungwoo shared a look, both trying to hold back smiles. Johnny rolled his eyes.

The doctor turned to Ten and Johnny, eying them up and down before raising a brow in silent question. Johnny knew the doctor was silently questioning his relationship with the omega beside him, when both of them smelled of others and not each other. It had happened before, but usually the excuse was that they were quite old-fashioned and were courting one another. Most people accepted the excuse, but he could tell the doctor knew better even if he never voiced it. He turned back to his patient, checking on the damaged ear and other points of interest.

Lucas was discharged and set up with another appointment to check up on him next week, Jungwoo hovering beside his wheelchair and filling out forms. The ruffed up alpha looked pretty tired, and Johnny was sure the meds were kicking in full force by now.

Ten turned to the doctor and shook his hand, telling him thank you.

There was a strange look in the practitioner’s eyes and he said, “I’ve seen worse come through here,” and smiled at him - almost approvingly - before handing him the pain meds for Lucas.

Johnny and Ten exchanged looks, wondering what exactly that was about, before they headed out into the parking lot and loaded their rather drugged and battered alpha up into the backseat onto Jungwoo’s lap once more.

The drive home was much quieter, and calmer, though Johnny was having trouble tamping down the boiling anger he still had concerning the mates in his back seat.

“I lobve you, WooWoo,” Lucas mumbled rather drunkenly from behind him.

Jungwoo was giggling as he said, “Shhh, we’re almost home, okay?”

“You don’ love me too?” Lucas slurred, sounding genuinely hurt.

Ten riding shotgun beside him was biting his lips, shoulders shaking as he held back his laugh. Johnny’s lip twitched. It _was_ kinda funny.

“Yes, you big idiot, of course I love you.”

Johnny heard the smack of lips but didn’t lift his eyes to the rearview mirror to find out where the kiss landed. He sighed and told himself he was never going to leave home for so long again.

 

Jungwoo sat in bed, headphones in, phone screen lighting up his dark bedroom as he watched a video before sleeping. So he nearly missed the steady tapping at his window. He paused the video, listening, and jumped when he heard glass shatter.

“Oh fuck, I’m sorry!” said a voice outside, down below.

Ten and Taeyong were both already crashing through Jungwoo’s door before he could even throw the covers off to see what was the matter.

Taeyong, being the one with slippers on, stepped carefully over the broken glass to look out the gaping portal. “Lucas, we have a fucking front door for a reason!”

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry!”

But Jungwoo was shaking his head, smiling. Ten shouted, “You’re paying for that!”

On their way out, they both looked at Jungwoo as if to say, “That’s your mate. You’re stuck with him.” They both went into their bedroom and pointedly shut the door.

Jungwoo went downstairs to open the door for Lucas. “I’m sorry,” he said again as he stepped into the living room.

His arm was still in a sling, most of his face still cut and bruised - but the hand hanging out of the sling held a bouquet of flowers wrapped in plastic and Jungwoo softened.

Jungwoo brushed the blonde bangs out of his eyes and took the flowers from Lucas hand to smell them. He peered up at the alpha’s face from over the petals, hiding his smile beneath the flora.

“Why didn’t you just text me?”

Lucas nervously trailed fingers through his own hair and toed the carpet. He let out one of his stupid, loud, and incredibly endearing laughs.

“I was trying to be romantic?”

Jungwoo shook his head again, but he couldn’t keep the grin from stretching his lips. “Breaking my window is romantic?”

“I didn’t mean-”

“Didn’t it hurt your rib to throw those rocks?” He stepped up close to Lucas, their eyes locked as his fingertips brushed the bandaged ribs below the sling.

“Well, I mean kinda, but-”

Jungwoo cut off his words with a kiss. Long fingers pressed lightly into his jaw in response. He broke the kiss, faces still close, and slowly opened his eyes to meet Lucas’. He giggled then at the question in those big brown eyes. “You’re an idiot but I love you.”

Lucas answered by pulling Jungwoo against his good side and leaning in for a deeper kiss. “Since you love me, can I take you on a walk? The air outside is perfect tonight.”

“The air that’s currently seeping into my room?”

Lucas breathed a laugh and looked at the floor. “I should probably go clean that up before Ten and Tae kill me.”

“I think they already mean to kill you,” Jungwoo commented playfully, pulling Lucas by the hand into the kitchen so he could get something to put the flowers in. “Haven’t you been banned from dinners for the next two months as punishment?”

Lucas watched as Jungwoo tended to the flowers, cutting the stems under running water before setting them in the half-full vase.

After a minute he answered, “Yeah, but I figured I should be practicing my cooking now anyways.”

Jungwoo rearranged the flowers and threw the trash away. “Why is that?”

He gave Jungwoo his signature grin. “For when we get our own place.”

He nearly dropped the vase. “Wait, like- Like soon?”

“Well you might just have to join me on that walk to find out.”

“Oh my god, Huang XuXi.” He only ever used Lucas’ birth name on very rare and extreme occasions. He thought it was justified this time. “Just…. Wait here a few minutes, okay?”

Jungwoo ran into the dining room, depositing the vase in the center of the large table, before sprinting barefoot up the stairs with a broom and dustpan.

The task seemed to take forever while his mate waited downstairs, but he managed to remove what glass he could, tack a blanket over the window, and then get dressed. He was breathing a bit heavier than usual by the time he made it down the stairs to see Lucas perched on the arm of the couch, looking out the wide front window.  

Lucas rose a brow when he saw him. “Sure you have enough energy to take that walk, old man?”

Jungwoo blinked at him. “Sure you should even be so physically active after getting the shit beat out of you, young man?”

Lucas jokingly grimaced like that stung. “Oof.”

But they were both chuckling together as they carefully shut the door behind them. Not much had really changed between them, the omega thought, reaching for Lucas’ good hand as they walked down the steps. Except the sex. And the kissing.

He leaned over to carefully peck Lucas’s cheek, dodging a cut. Lots of kissing.

“So?” He looked at the sidewalk at the end of the driveway. “Where to?”

Lucas let go of Jungwoo’s hand to reach into his pocket. He heard keys jingling.

“What? Mark really let you borrow the van?”

The alpha started to walk down the road where the beat up hulk of a vehicle was parked.

“Yes, he did. But only because he knows I’m in no shape to fuck you in it.”

Jungwoo spluttered at that, stopping on the sidewalk to simply guffaw. He sprinted to catch up with Lucas after his moment of shock was over. “Wait, you said you’d take me on a walk. How are we supposed to take a walk in a van, Lucas?”

“Well, we gotta get there first,” he said, and smiled as he climbed in.

   

 

It took Jungwoo five minutes to figure out where they were going, but he hadn’t a clue why they were going _there_. He took in a deep breath, opening his mouth to ask, but Lucas was quicker.

“How’s Doyoung?”

The query caught him off guard and his heart dropped momentarily. It was a familiar feeling by now when his ex came to mind. Someday, he reasoned, it wouldn’t feel so heavy. Someday. Why did Lucas have to ask Jungwoo for tabs on the alpha? They didn’t speak either.

“You can’t ask Mark?” He questioned in return with an edge to his voice.

Lucas smiled sadly. “Practically everyone is annoyed at me for something or other right now. They only put up with me because I’m your mate.”

“ _And_ you’re still pack,” Jungwoo added, though he still felt his stomach flutter at the word _mate._ He sighed. “I hear he spends a lot of time alone in the alpha house. Sometimes with Jaehyun and Taeil. I… I guess he’s healing up okay.”

Lucas hummed acknowledgement and pulled into a parking lot. “Johnny’s still pissed at me, which means Jaehyun is too. Kun will talk to me, but not about you or Doyoung.” He shut the engine off after they parked.

Jungwoo reached for his hand after it became apparent they were going to sit a minute in the silent dark. Lucas had slumped back against the driver’s seat, staring blankly out at the treeline. He squeezed the alpha’s long fingers.

“It’ll take time, but he’ll be okay.” He sighed and unbuckled. “We will be too.”

“Yeah,” Lucas whispered, blinking. Then he seemed to become a different person entirely, giant grin lighting up his face with familiar mischief. “Grab the flashlight out of the glove box for me?”

Jungwoo did as he was asked, following Lucas out of the van before they walked toward the trees. He pulled the omega close and kissed the top of his head. “Now, this is the walk I meant.”

The path seemed different when they weren’t riddled with hormones and sprinting like crazy animals through the trees. There were some deer paths here and there, crossing the manmade park trail through the broad leaves. They took their time, breathing in the night air together, stealing glances by the light of reflected flashlight at their feet, stopping to steal kisses when the glances weren’t enough.

Jungwoo asked Lucas several times if he was okay, if his side was hurting, but the alpha always brushed it off with a smile.

Soon they were standing under a giant oak tree where the grass and leaves made the ground soft - a perfect spot to spend a night. Jungwoo looked at Lucas, who reached down slowly for the flashlight, aiming the device toward the big tree with a growing smirk.

“XuXi!”

The alpha laughed at him, the sound ringing through the trees.

Jungwoo stared at the swirling patterns painted into the bark around the base of the tree.

“You- When did you even- You’ve been injured! How did you-”

“Well, it was a lot easier than trying to bag a deer on a reserve 300 miles away.”

He stepped toward the tree, admiring his handiwork, fingertips tracing the white paint. It was beautiful. In the middle was a circle of space where the pattern made room for the word “Promise.”

Lucas stepped closer, so close Jungwoo could feel the heat of his body on his back. “I was gonna carve it but I read that could kill the tree.”

There were tears gathering in the corners of Jungwoo’s eyes at that. He cared about the fucking tree? It sounded so stupid, but-

He cared.

He had put real thought and effort into showing Jungwoo, in his own way, his devotion.

“You were supposed to be resting, Lucas. Healing,” he protested anyways.

One arm wrapped around Jungwoo’s waist. “I was.” His nose pressed into the omega’s neck, breathing in his scent.

Jungwoo tilted his head to give him more space, eyes fluttering closed as cool air rushed over his skin.

“I went slowly and took breaks often, I promise.” Lucas pressed his lips into the side of his neck. His mouth tickled the skin when he continued, “And when I would sit down to rest I could smell us all around me.”

Jungwoo didn’t miss the way his mate’s voice dropped. He swallowed back a whine.

But Lucas pulled away, giving Jungwoo space to breathe. Lucas’ affections drove him crazier than he’d ever admit - though he had a feeling Lucas knew just how flustered he could get the omega with a well-placed touch by now.

He closed his eyes a moment to reorient himself before turning around to face Lucas properly. He turned off the flashlight.

“Since this is a public park,” the alpha continued casually, “I couldn’t exactly get a house here, _buuuuut_ -” He pulled Jungwoo close again, nestling him into his uninjured side. “There’s some apartments just on the other side of the woods. I’ve looked into them, and they seem affordable. They’re not far from campus either, so we can still walk to class when fall semester starts.”

Jungwoo shoved his face into Lucas’ chest, wanting to cry at the idea of their own space together but feeling like a crybaby if he allowed himself to let it out. His mate rubbed fingers slowly up and down his spine.

“The best part is…” He paused and Jungwoo looked up at him. “We can come here whenever we want.”

He knew what exactly that implied. Normally the suggestion would have seemed foolish and juvenile, but Jungwoo bit his lip and gave Lucas a look he couldn’t see in the dark.

“I wanna cum now,” he breathed.

Lucas laughed, catching on. “Give my body a week and I’ll see what I can do.”

They stood kissing in the dark, insects singing to the night all around them, until Lucas reluctantly complained his rib was aching and they made their way back home again.

 

“How are classes so far?” Ten asked before another bite went into his mouth.

Lucas drew his eyes away from the the orange and red leaves waving outside to look at the pack leaders, realizing he was being addressed.

“Oh, pretty good. English is fun.” He looked at Jungwoo beside him. They’d chosen the same course together, after Jungwoo had brought it up as a joke but Lucas had been all in. “The other ones are going okay. Kinda boring, though.”

Jungwoo smirked beside him.

Mark snorted. “Aren’t you both taking the same English class?”

The whole table chuckled, but Lucas was grinning from ear to ear happily. “Well yeah, that’s why I like the class so much.”

It was no secret he wasn’t the best student, but he tried. Jungwoo had been very strict about setting study hours every night, promising Lucas certain _rewards_ if he met his deadlines. Lucas finished early nearly every night.

And then finished again much later.

Presently, he reached for his mate’s hand under the table and looked around the room. The younger boys had grown over the summer, and Haechan had presented as an alpha just before Renjun had his first heat. With Jungwoo’s old room empty, he had moved upstairs here at the omega house.

Yuta sat close with Sicheng, whispering things to one another and holding back laughs as Sicheng blushed. They certainly seemed cozy, Lucas thought, turning to Johnny who was watching the same exchange with a tiny curl to his lips.

Beside Johnny sat Jaehyun, who had finally lost his frosty demeanor toward Lucas once the omega leaders had allowed him back at their table once more. Kun sat across from him, laughing with Mark and Jungwoo about something while Lucas stole a glance down at the far end of the table at Doyoung.

He seemed less sad these days, but Lucas felt that familiar pang of regret when the alpha’s eyes stayed fixed on the plate, staring at food half uneaten. Taeil smiled softly at him, touch light on Doyoung’s shoulder. He couldn’t hear what the beta said, but Doyoung nodded solemnly and attempted to eat.

There were still times, like now, when Lucas thought it might be best if he and Jungwoo never came back. Make their own pack where there weren’t people he’d hurt. But he’d always sigh and shake his head at himself for the thought. He was no alpha leader, and the thought of leading terrified him. The thought of being on their own, without a pack, terrified him even more. Jungwoo didn’t seem particularly keen on the idea either.

Johnny, Ten, and Taeyong had sat them both down one day long ago and told them that they were still pack and they were still welcome here. They also cautioned that things wouldn’t be any easier now that they’d moved out. It wouldn’t get them away from the consequences of their actions. And they’d been right, of course.

“How’s the apartment coming, Jungwoo?” Taeyong asked.

Lucas glanced at his mate, watching Jungwoo’s face light up while he answered. He went into great detail about the art pieces he’d picked out for the walls, the hand-me-down couch he’d figured out how to recolor to match the rug that the omegas had given him as a housewarming gift. Lucas huffed a laugh, amused at his mate’s nesting instincts. But beyond that, Jungwoo really did have a particular knack for design, a talent Lucas always praised him for.

With a sting of guilt, he glanced back down at the far end of the table. Doyoung was gone. After a minute, Taeil quietly excused himself, grabbing his jacket from off the back of the chair.

Lucas leaned slightly toward Jungwoo at an angle where he could see through the doorway and out the large front window where Doyoung stood on the front porch hugging himself against the autumn chill. The dark-haired alpha turned when the door opened and he watched Taeil stand beside him.

Lucas laid his head on Jungwoo while the omega talked with Taeyong about their place, only part of him listening to the conversation.

After a minute, he observed as Taeil took his jacket off and laid it gently over Doyoung’s shoulders. Lucas closed his eyes, breathing in the scent of his mate under his cheek, a warm feeling of content settling in his chest.

_We’ll be okay._


End file.
